Promising fighters whose careers were cut short

Zack Padilla

 

Gypsy Joe Harris

https://www.sportscasting.com/meet-...-won-24-pro-fights-before-the-truth-came-out/

 

Same with Packey McFarland at age 25 ( not including the Gibbons fight )

 

Dmitry Pirog. Could've been the greatest middleweight to ever live, and would've schooled GGG.

 

Luther McCarty.

 

I thought McFarland retired at 25 and died before his time but a few years later . Incredible fighter with a sensational record though. Unbelievable that he never managed to get a title shot.

 

Ya I was referring to the close ages they didnt box anymore 24 and 25 .. ya it was a shame ..He was close , the LW title fight with Wolgast was cancelled in the 11th hour
I think he was 47 when he passed of a strep throat infection that went to his heart

 

Johnson and possibly even Dempsey might have only been footnotes of history.

 

Jimmy Britt
Joey Archer
Gerry Cooney
Tim Witherspoon
Greg Page
Andrew Golota

 

you really think so!?

 

In the words of John Lardner in what is considered in sports writing circles the best lead ever written:

“Stanley Ketchel was 24 years old when he was fatally shot in the back by the common law husband of the woman who was cooking his breakfast.”

The Michigan Assassin was 49-5-3 (46) per boxrec at the time and had already beaten some notables.

 

Fair enough, but what more could he do? Beating Pedroza would have been huge, but could he have actually done it? And then what? I actually wonder if he wouldn't have suffered a similar fate to Gomez after being paired with Arguello.

Surely, it was a tragic death and he would have given us many more exciting fights. It's just that his potential seems to have been overblown by the tragedy of his death.

 

Nah, Japanese hype job. The one dude who didn't have to play by VADA rules. It would have ended horribly for him sooner or later. Look what happened to guys who stared in Japanese MMA when they came to the UFC.

 

McFarland is one of the greatest ever P4P bar none. He is easily top 10. Amazing record.

 

The better argument is for the Argentine, who began his career far too late.